Abstract
Mitochondrial (mt) genome fragmentation has been discovered in all five parvorders of parasitic lice (Phthiraptera). To explore whether minichromosomal characters derived from mt genome fragmentation are informative for phylogenetic studies, we sequenced the mt genomes of 17 species of bird lice in Menoponidae and Laemobothriidae (Amblycera). Four species of Menoponidae (Actornithophilus sp. 1 ex [pied oystercatcher], Act. sp. 2 ex [masked lapwing], Austromenopon sp. 2 ex [sooty tern and crested tern], Myr. sp. 1 ex [satin bowerbird]) have fragmented mt genomes, whereas the other 13 species retain the single-chromosome mt genomes. The two Actornithophilus species have five and six mt minichromosomes, respectively. Aus. sp. 2 ex [sooty tern and crested tern] has two mt minichromosomes, in contrast to Aus. sp. 1 ex [sooty shearwater], which has a single mt chromosome. Myr. sp. 1 ex [satin bowerbird] has four mt minichromosomes. When mapped on the phylogeny of Menoponidae and Laemobothriidae, it is evident that mt genome fragmentation has occurred multiple times independently among Menoponidae and Laemobothriidae species. We found derived mt minichromosomal characters shared between Myrsidea species, between Actornithophilus species, and between and among different ischnoceran genera, respectively. We conclude that while mt genome fragmentation as a general feature does not unite all the parasitic lice that have this feature, each independent mt genome fragmentation event does produce minichromosomal characters that can be informative for phylogenetic studies of parasitic lice at different taxonomic levels.